View source for Jewish Defense League

{{Short description|Far-right Jewish political organization}}
{{Duplicated citations|reason=DuplicateReferences script detected:

* https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/jewish-defense-league (refs: 1, 9)

* https://www.streetpress.com/sujet/1699893281-tabassage-intimidations-soutien-lepen-rassemblement-national-ligue-defense-juive-manifestation-antisemitisme-ldj (refs: 3, 95)

* https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-09-12/ty-article/.premium/jewish-far-right-extremists-show-up-at-pro-palestinian-events-in-toronto/00000191-e69b-d383-a5d3-f69be55c0000 (refs: 6, 98)

* https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror (refs: 8, 114)

* https://web.archive.org/web/20111103121134/http://www.jdl.org/index.php/about-jdl/faqs (refs: 109, 110)

|date=November 2025}}
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{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = Jewish Defense League
| logo             = Jewish Defense League.svg
| logo_size        = 150px
| caption          = 
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = he
| other_name       = 
| founder          = [[Meir Kahane]]
| leader           = [[Shelley Rubin]]
| foundation       = {{Start date and age|1968}}
| dates            = 
| dissolved        = 
| merger           = 
| split            = 
| predecessor      = 
| merged           = 
| successor        = 
| country          = 
| allegiance       = {{flagicon image|Flag of Kach and Kahane Chai.svg}} [[Kach (political party)|Kach Party]] (formerly)
| motives          = 
| area             = United States, Canada, and Israel
| headquarters     = [[New York City]], [[Los Angeles]], and [[Toronto]]
| newspaper        = 
| ideology         = [[Kahanism]]
{{ubl|class=nowrap|
 |[[Zionism]]
 |Radical [[opposition to antisemitism|anti-antisemitism]]
 |[[Anti-Arab sentiment]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/jewish-defense-league | title=Jewish Defense League }}</ref>
}}
| position         = [[Far-right politics|Far-right]]
| slogan           = ''[[Never again|Never Again!]]''
| crimes           = 
| attacks          = 
| status           = Inactive in the United States and Canada (2021)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ellis |first=Stephen |date=August 21, 2021 |title=The long overdue death of the Jewish Defence League |url=https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-long-overdue-death-of-the-jewish-defence-league |access-date=April 8, 2024 |website=canadiandimension.com |language=en}}</ref><br>Active in France<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Garnier |first1=Christophe-Cécil |last2=Molard |first2=Mathieu |last3=Douley |first3=Eva |last4=Weisz |first4=Johan |date=November 13, 2023 |title=Tabassage, intimidations et soutien au RN, la Ligue de défense juive est de retour |url=https://www.streetpress.com/sujet/1699893281-tabassage-intimidations-soutien-lepen-rassemblement-national-ligue-defense-juive-manifestation-antisemitisme-ldj |access-date=December 18, 2023 |website=StreetPress |language=fr |archive-date=December 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209205704/https://www.streetpress.com/sujet/1699893281-tabassage-intimidations-soutien-lepen-rassemblement-national-ligue-defense-juive-manifestation-antisemitisme-ldj |url-status=live }}</ref>
| size             = 15,000 (peak)
| revenue          = 
| financing        = 
| partof           = 
| allies           = 
| battles          = 
| designated_as_terror_group_by = {{nowrap|{{flag|United States}}}}
| flag             = 
| colors           = {{color box|#090682|border=darkgray}} [[Blue]] {{color box|#FFFFFF|border=darkgray}} [[White]]
| website          = 
| module           = 
}}

The '''Jewish Defense League''' ('''JDL''') is a [[Far-right politics|far-right]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Foreign fighters support Israel's settlements|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2011/9/24/foreign-fighters-support-israels-settlements|website=[[Al Jazeera]]|access-date=2025-11-30|language=en|first=Nour|last=Samaha|date=24 Sep 2011|quote=The website belongs to the French chapter of the Jewish Defence League (JDL), a far-right Jewish group founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane in the United States in 1968.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bilefsky|first=Dan|date=August 6, 2014|title=A Militant Jewish Group Confronts Pro-Palestinian Protesters in France|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/world/europe/militant-jewish-group-confronts-protesters-in-a-tense-france.html|access-date=March 9, 2025|work=[[The New York Times]]|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|quote=Foot soldiers of a French offshoot of the Jewish Defense League, a far-right Zionist group that advocates muscular self-defense in the face of violence and anti-Semitism...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Nechin|first=Etan|title=Jewish far-right extremists show up at pro-Palestinian events in Toronto|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-09-12/ty-article/.premium/jewish-far-right-extremists-show-up-at-pro-palestinian-events-in-toronto/00000191-e69b-d383-a5d3-f69be55c0000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250128044250/https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-09-12/ty-article/.premium/jewish-far-right-extremists-show-up-at-pro-palestinian-events-in-toronto/00000191-e69b-d383-a5d3-f69be55c0000|archive-date=January 28, 2025|access-date=March 9, 2025|work=[[Haaretz]]|language=en|url-status=live|date=September 12, 2024|quote=Several counterprotesters spotted at a recent pro-Palestinian event at Canada's University of Toronto have links to the far-right Jewish Defense League, Haaretz has confirmed...}}</ref> political organization in the United States, Canada and France. Its stated goal is to "protect [[Jews]] from [[antisemitism]] by [[By any means necessary|whatever means necessary]]";<ref name="backgrounder">{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/extremism/jdl_chron.asp|title=Anti-Defamation League on JDL|publisher=Adl.org|access-date=November 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414090038/http://www.adl.org/extremism/jdl_chron.asp|archive-date=April 14, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> it has been classified as "right-wing terrorist group" by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) since 2001,<ref name=fbi>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror|title=FBI — Terrorism 2000/2001|publisher=Fbi.gov|access-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007083445/https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror|archive-date=October 7, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=December 2024|reason=still deemed a terrorist organization?}} and is also designated as [[hate group]] by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/jewish-defense-league |title=Jewish Defense League |access-date=January 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126050947/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/jewish-defense-league |archive-date=January 26, 2016 |url-status=live | website=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] }}</ref> According to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], the JDL has been involved in plotting and executing [[Domestic terrorism in the United States|acts of terrorism within the United States]].<ref name=fbi /><ref>{{cite book|title=The Achille Lauro Hijacking: Lessons in the Politics and Prejudice of Terrorism|first=Michael K.|last=Bohn|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=754tx7I-98cC&pg=PA67 67]|year=2004|publisher=Brassey's Inc.|isbn=1-57488-779-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Terrorism 2002/2005 |url=https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005 |access-date=March 9, 2025 |website=FBI}}</ref> Most terrorist watch groups classify the group as inactive as of 2015.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 978-1-317-46109-8| last = Ross| first = Jeffrey Ian| title = Religion and Violence: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict from Antiquity to the Present| date = March 4, 2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFfrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA394}}</ref>

Founded by [[Meir Kahane]] in [[New York City]] in 1968, the JDL's self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of antisemitism.<ref name="backgrounder" /><ref name="MIPT">{{Cite web|url=http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=183|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828165700/http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=183|url-status=dead|title=JDL group profile from ''National Consortium for the Study of Terror and Responses to Terrorism''|archivedate=August 28, 2010}}</ref> Its criticism of the [[Soviet Union]] increased local support for the group, transforming it from a "vigilante club" into an organization with a stated membership numbering over 15,000 at one point.<ref name=hewitt>{{cite book|title=Understanding Terrorism in America: From the Klan to Al Qaeda|first=Christopher|last=Hewitt|pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingter0000hewi/page/35 35f]|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-27765-5|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingter0000hewi/page/35}}</ref> The group took to bombing [[Arab Americans|Arab]] and Soviet properties in the United States<ref>Hewitt, p. 65</ref> while assassinating a variety of alleged "enemies of the Jewish people" ranging from Arab-American political activists to [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazis]].<ref>Nasseph McCarus, Ernest. ''The Development of Arab-American Identity''. 1994, pp. 180–3</ref> A number of JDL members have been linked to violent, and sometimes deadly, attacks in the United States and in other countries, including the murder of the [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]] regional director [[Alex Odeh]] in 1985; the [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre]] in 1994; [[2001 Jewish Defense League plot in California|a plot to assassinate]] U.S. Representative [[Darrell Issa]] in 2001;<ref>Kushner, Harvey W. ''Encyclopedia of Terrorism''. 2003, pp. 192–3</ref> and a [[2001 Jewish Defense League plot in California|plot to bomb]] the [[King Fahad Mosque (Culver City)|King Fahad Mosque]] in [[Culver City]], [[California]]. In 1990, [[Assassination of Meir Kahane|Kahane was assassinated]] by an [[Egyptian-American]] gunman, [[El Sayyid Nosair]], at a hotel in New York City.<ref name=deaths/>

According to the [[Anti-Defamation League]], the JDL consists only of "thugs and hooligans"<ref name=lauro>Bohn, Michael K. ''The Achille Lauro Hijacking''. 2004, pp. 176–7</ref> and Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence, and political extremism,"<ref name="backgrounder" /> attitudes that were replicated by his successor [[Irv Rubin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/presrele/extremism_72/4016_72.asp|title=ADL Commends FBI for Thwarting Alleged Bombing Plot By Jewish Extremists|publisher=Adl.org|date=December 12, 2001|access-date=November 23, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926205341/http://www.adl.org/presrele/extremism_72/4016_72.asp|archive-date=September 26, 2011 | author = [[Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL) }}</ref>

==Origins==
In 1968, while [[Meir Kahane|Kahane]] served as the associate editor for ''[[The Jewish Press]]'', the paper's office began receiving numerous calls and letters about crimes being committed against Jews and Jewish institutions.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last1=Kahane|first1=Libby|title=Rabbi Meir Kahane: His Life and Thought Vol. One: 1932–1975|date=2008|publisher=Urim Publications|location=Israel|isbn=978-965-524-008-5|page=90}}</ref> Violence in the [[New York City]] area was on the rise, with Jews making up a disproportionately large percentage of the victims.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Peter R. Eisenstadt|author2=Laura-Eve Moss|title=The Encyclopedia of New York State|date=May 19, 2005|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0815608080|page=93}}</ref> Elderly Jews were being harassed and mugged, storeowners were held up and Jewish teachers were assaulted while Jewish synagogues were defaced and Jewish cemeteries desecrated.<ref name="auto"/>

After discussing the matter with a few congregants, Kahane put out an ad in ''The Jewish Press'' on May 24, 1968, which read: "We are talking of JEWISH SURVIVAL! Are you willing to stand up for democracy and Jewish survival? Join and support the Jewish Defense Corps."<ref>{{cite news|title=We are talking of JEWISH SURVIVAL! |work=[[The Jewish Press]] |date=May 24, 1968|page=33}}</ref> Shortly after, Kahane renamed the group the "Jewish Defense League," fearing that "Corps" would be construed as too militant.<ref name="Newark Star Ledger">{{cite news|last1=Gershen|first1=Martin|title=New Organization Protests Against NYU Official |work=Newark Star Ledger|date=August 6, 1968}}</ref> The group's declared purpose was: "to combat anti-Semitism in the public and private sectors of life in the United States of America."<ref name="Jewish Defense League">JDL Certificate of Incorporation, approved September 25, 1968</ref> Kahane stated that the League was formed to "do the job that the [[Anti-Defamation League]] should do but doesn't."<ref name="Newark Star Ledger"/>

Shortly afterwards, the Jewish Defense League put out a four-page manifesto which stated: "America has been good to the Jew and the Jew has been good to America. A land founded on the principles of democracy and freedom has given unprecedented opportunities to a people devoted to those ideals" yet now finds itself threatened by "political extremism" and "racist militancy." Furthermore, the manifesto stated that the organization rejects all hate and illegality, believes firmly in law and order, backs police forces and will work actively in the courts to strike down all discrimination.<ref name="Jewish Defense League Manifesto">Meir Kahane, "Jewish Defense League Manifesto". New York, 1969</ref> When asked about Jewish Defense League members breaking the law, Kahane responded: "We respect the right and the obligation of the American government to prosecute us and send us to jail. No one gripes about that."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Interview: Meir Kahane, A candid conversation with the militant leader of the Jewish Defense League|date=October 1972|magazine=Playboy}}</ref>

The group adopted the slogan "[[Never again|Never Again]]!" which was originally used by the Jewish resistance fighters in the [[Warsaw ghetto]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pedahzur|first1=Ami|last2=Perliger|first2=Arie|title=Jewish Terrorism in Israel |series=Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare |date=July 12, 2011 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0231154475 |page=212}}</ref> While the phrase is usually interpreted to mean that the Nazi [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]] of six million Jews will never be permitted to recur, Kahane claimed that his intention was to declare that Jews should never again be caught by surprise or lulled into a foolish trust in others.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Breslauer|first1=S. Daniel|title=Meir Kahane: Ideologue, Hero, Thinker|date=1986|publisher=The Edwin Mellen Press|location=Lewiston, NY USA|isbn=0-88946-252-6|page=33}}</ref>

The first Jewish Defense League demonstration took place on August 5, 1968, at [[New York University]] with some 15 members chanting: "No Nazis at NYU, Jewish rights are precious too."<ref name="Newark Star Ledger"/>

==History==

===1969===

On August 7, the JDL sent members to [[Passaic]], New Jersey, to protect Jewish merchants from anti-Jewish rioting which had swept the area for days.<ref>{{cite web|title=JDL Sends Members to Protect Jewish Stores in Passaic, Mayor Annoyed|url=https://www.jta.org/1969/08/08/archive/jdl-sends-members-to-protect-jewish-stores-in-passaic-mayor-annoyed|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=August 8, 1969|access-date=May 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806170346/http://www.jta.org/1969/08/08/archive/jdl-sends-members-to-protect-jewish-stores-in-passaic-mayor-annoyed|archive-date=August 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On November 25, the JDL was invited to the [[Boston]] area by Jewish residents in response to a mounting wave of crime directed primarily against Jews.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elderly Jews in Boston Fearful Over Mounting Crime Invite In Defense League|url=https://www.jta.org/1969/11/26/archive/elderly-jews-in-boston-fearful-over-mounting-crime-invite-in-defense-league|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=November 26, 1969|access-date=May 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806171519/http://www.jta.org/1969/11/26/archive/elderly-jews-in-boston-fearful-over-mounting-crime-invite-in-defense-league|archive-date=August 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 3, JDL members attacked the Syrian Mission in [[New York City|New York]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Iraq Seeks Maximum Security for UN Missions, Condemns Terror, Cites JDL As Culprit|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/12/10/archive/iraq-seeks-maximum-security-for-un-missions-condemns-terror-cites-jdl-as-culprit|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=December 10, 1970|access-date=May 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806215746/http://www.jta.org/1970/12/10/archive/iraq-seeks-maximum-security-for-un-missions-condemns-terror-cites-jdl-as-culprit|archive-date=August 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 31, 13 JDL members were arrested after a series of coordinated actions against [[Soviet]] property in [[Manhattan]] and at [[Kennedy Airport]] intended to protest the treatment of Jews in the [[Soviet Union]]. Several youths painted slogans on a Soviet airliner, two of them handcuffed themselves to the airliner, while others daubed the words "Am Yisroel Chai" (the Nation of Israel Lives) on the plane's doors. A similar slogan was painted on the walls of the office of Tass, the Soviet news agency, in [[Rockefeller Plaza]], which was invaded by Rabbi Kahane and four other JDL members. The rest of the demonstrators were taken into custody after invading the midtown offices of the Soviet tourist bureau.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thirteen Defense League Members Arrested in Anti-Soviet Demonstrations|url=https://www.jta.org/1969/12/31/archive/thirteen-defense-league-members-arrested-in-anti-soviet-demonstrations|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=December 31, 1969|access-date=May 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806192344/http://www.jta.org/1969/12/31/archive/thirteen-defense-league-members-arrested-in-anti-soviet-demonstrations|archive-date=August 6, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
===1970===
Initially, the League was connected to a series of violent attacks against the Soviet Union's interests in the United States, protesting the former country's repression of [[Soviet Jews]], who were often jailed and refused [[exit visa]]s.<ref name="bohn">{{cite book|title=The Achille Lauro Hijacking: Lessons in the Politics and Prejudice of Terrorism|last=Bohn|first=Michael K.|publisher=Brassey's Inc.|year=2004|isbn=1-57488-779-3|page=67}}</ref><ref name="kushner">[[Harvey W. Kushner]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOfkAoDb_2IC Encyclopedia of Terrorism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103141338/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOfkAoDb_2IC |date=November 3, 2023 }}, SAGE, 2003, 192–193. {{ISBN|0-7619-2408-6}}</ref> The JDL decided that violence was necessary to draw attention to their plight, reasoning that [[Moscow]] would respond to the strain on [[Soviet Union–United States relations|Soviet–US relations]] by allowing more [[1970s Soviet Union aliyah|emigration to Israel]].<ref name=kushner/>

In 1970, according to [[Christopher Andrew (historian)|Christopher Andrew]] and [[Vasili Mitrokhin]], agents of the Soviet [[KGB]] forged and sent threatening letters to Arab missions claiming to be from the JDL to discredit it. They also were ordered to bomb a target in the "Negro section of New York" and blame it on the JDL.<ref>Christopher Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin, ''The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World'', Basic Books, 2005, 237–238 {{ISBN|0-465-00311-7}}{{page needed|date=October 2015}}</ref>

On January 25, JDL members staged anti-Soviet demonstrations at a concert of the [[Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra]] in [[Brooklyn College|Brooklyn College's]] auditorium. JDL members "danced, sang and yelled" while trying to prevent people from entering the auditorium.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/01/29/archive/tass-charges-ny-police-with-inaction-during-protest-against-moscow-orchestra|title=Tass Charges NY Police with Inaction During Protest Against Moscow Orchestra|date=January 29, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019014740/http://www.jta.org/1970/01/29/archive/tass-charges-ny-police-with-inaction-during-protest-against-moscow-orchestra|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On March 23, JDL members staged a sit-in in the office of the president of the [[Federation of Jewish Philanthropies|Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York]] to demand that the Federation allocate more funds for Jewish education and Jewish defense, assist institutions threatened by violence, and arrange for "popular" election of Federation officials.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/03/24/archive/jdl-stages-sit-in-at-office-of-president-of-federation-of-jewish-philanthropies|title=Jdl Stages Sit-in at Office of President of Federation of Jewish Philanthropies|date=March 24, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019005907/http://www.jta.org/1970/03/24/archive/jdl-stages-sit-in-at-office-of-president-of-federation-of-jewish-philanthropies|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, the Federation agreed to form a special committee to consider the request for additional funds for Jewish education,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/03/25/archive/federation-of-jewish-philanthropies-studying-request-for-more-jewish-education-funds|title=Federation of Jewish Philanthropies Studying Request for More Jewish Education Funds|date=March 25, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019012420/http://www.jta.org/1970/03/25/archive/federation-of-jewish-philanthropies-studying-request-for-more-jewish-education-funds|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> while other groups continued to demonstrate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/04/09/archive/student-activists-stage-sit-in-at-federation-of-jewish-philanthropies-41-arrested|title=Student Activists Stage Sit-in at Federation of Jewish Philanthropies; 41 Arrested|date=April 9, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019010600/http://www.jta.org/1970/04/09/archive/student-activists-stage-sit-in-at-federation-of-jewish-philanthropies-41-arrested|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 7, the JDL held memorial services on behalf of civilian victims of "Arab terrorism during the past half century" in front of the [[United Arab Republic]] Mission to the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/04/07/archive/arabs-take-over-church-jewish-defense-league-orders-minister-to-evict-them|title=Arabs Take over Church; Jewish Defense League Orders Minister to Evict Them|date=April 7, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019010230/http://www.jta.org/1970/04/07/archive/arabs-take-over-church-jewish-defense-league-orders-minister-to-evict-them|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 9, nine JDL members occupied the principal's office of Leeds Junior High School in [[Philadelphia]] after school authorities had allegedly failed to crack down on school violence. The JDL hoped to present six "suggestions" for protecting students from assault and theft by "troublemakers," including committing them to disciplinary schools, stationing policemen in the public schools and replacing "weak administrators."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/06/25/archive/nine-jdl-members-served-with-criminal-warrants-charged-with-disorderly-conduct|title=Nine Jdl Members Served with Criminal Warrants, Charged with Disorderly Conduct|date=June 25, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019014745/http://www.jta.org/1970/06/25/archive/nine-jdl-members-served-with-criminal-warrants-charged-with-disorderly-conduct|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OgeAwAAQBAJ|title=Making Good Neighbors: Civil Rights, Liberalism, and Integration in Postwar Philadelphia|last=Perkiss|first=Abigail|date=March 18, 2014|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801470844|language=en}}</ref>

On April 20, fifteen JDL members were arrested after chaining themselves to the fence in front of the Soviet Mission to the UN to protest against the treatment of Jews in the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/04/20/archive/jewish-defense-league-members-arrested-for-chaining-themselves-to-soviet-mission|title=Jewish Defense League Members Arrested for Chaining Themselves to Soviet Mission|date=April 20, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019014806/http://www.jta.org/1970/04/20/archive/jewish-defense-league-members-arrested-for-chaining-themselves-to-soviet-mission|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On May 8, about fifty JDL members demonstrated outside the [[Black Panther Party]] headquarters in [[Harlem]] due to an alleged "outrageous explosion of anti-Semitic hatred" by the Panthers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/05/08/archive/jdl-holds-rally-in-harlem-to-protest-black-panther-anti-semitism-clash-erupts|title=Jdl Holds Rally in Harlem to Protest Black Panther Anti-semitism; Clash Erupts|date=May 8, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019005912/http://www.jta.org/1970/05/08/archive/jdl-holds-rally-in-harlem-to-protest-black-panther-anti-semitism-clash-erupts|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On May 19, the JDL issued a statement attacking American Jewish organizations which opposed the [[Vietnam War]], accusing them of doing more to destroy the State of Israel "than all the Arab armies."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/05/20/archive/jdl-denounces-jewish-anti-war-groups-as-more-dangerous-to-israel-than-arabs|title=Jdl Denounces Jewish Anti-war Groups As More Dangerous to Israel Than Arabs|date=May 20, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019010403/http://www.jta.org/1970/05/20/archive/jdl-denounces-jewish-anti-war-groups-as-more-dangerous-to-israel-than-arabs|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On May 20, thirty-five JDL members took over the [[Park East Synagogue]], opposite the Soviet Mission, and barricaded the entrances in order to hold a "liberation [[Passover Seder|seder]]" for [[Soviet Jewry]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/05/21/jewish-holidays/passover/jdl-seizes-synagogue-to-conduct-liberation-seder-for-soviet-jews|title=Jdl Seizes Synagogue to Conduct 'liberation Seder' for Soviet Jews|date=May 21, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019005937/http://www.jta.org/1970/05/21/jewish-holidays/passover/jdl-seizes-synagogue-to-conduct-liberation-seder-for-soviet-jews|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On June 23, about forty JDL members seized two floors of an office building in New York housing [[Amtorg Trading Corporation|Amtorg]], the official Soviet Union trade office, and evicted the personnel in what the JDL deemed retaliation for the arrests of Jews and raids on Jewish homes in the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/06/24/archive/demonstrations-in-philadelphia-n-y-to-protest-arrests-of-jews-in-the-soviet-union|title=Demonstrations in Philadelphia, N.Y. to Protest Arrests of Jews in the Soviet Union|date=June 24, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019010721/http://www.jta.org/1970/06/24/archive/demonstrations-in-philadelphia-n-y-to-protest-arrests-of-jews-in-the-soviet-union|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On June 28, 150 JDL members demonstrated over attacks against the Jews of [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]] in reprisal for the accidental killing of a black girl by a Jewish driver. Clashes broke out with other minority groups and arrests were made.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/06/30/archive/five-jdl-members-including-rabbi-kahane-arrested-after-clash-with-elacks-puerto-ricans|title=Five Jdl Members, Including Rabbi Kahane, Arrested After Clash with Elacks, Puerto Ricans|date=June 30, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019014803/http://www.jta.org/1970/06/30/archive/five-jdl-members-including-rabbi-kahane-arrested-after-clash-with-elacks-puerto-ricans|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On August 16, 400 JDL members began a week-long march from [[Philadelphia]] to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] on behalf of Soviet Jewry, concluding with a rally at [[Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.|Lafayette Park]] urging [[Richard Nixon|President Nixon]] to "stand tall and firm in the [[Middle East]] as you have done elsewhere." In response, [[Thomas Hale Boggs Jr.]], a congressional candidate from [[Montgomery County, Maryland|Montgomery County]] (Md.), said he would sponsor a House resolution on Soviet Jewry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/08/24/archive/400-participate-in-jdl-rally-nixon-urged-to-stand-firm-in-mideast-drop-rogers-plan|title=400 Participate in Jdl Rally; Nixon Urged to Stand Firm in Mideast, Drop Rogers Plan|date=August 24, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019012430/http://www.jta.org/1970/08/24/archive/400-participate-in-jdl-rally-nixon-urged-to-stand-firm-in-mideast-drop-rogers-plan|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On September 27, two JDL members were arrested at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|Kennedy Airport]] while attempting to board a London-bound plane armed with four loaded guns and a live hand grenade. The two intended to hijack a [[United Arab Airlines]] plane and divert it to Israel.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/10/09/archive/jdl-official-arrested-in-connection-with-hijack-attempt-by-two-jdl-members|title=Jdl Official Arrested in Connection with Hijack Attempt by Two Jdl Members|date=October 9, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019010044/http://www.jta.org/1970/10/09/archive/jdl-official-arrested-in-connection-with-hijack-attempt-by-two-jdl-members|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 6, the JDL is suspected of bombing the New York office of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] after the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]], a member of the PLO, hijacked four airliners the previous month. [[United Press International]] reported that an anonymous caller phoned in about a half hour before the explosion and proclaimed the JDL slogan, "Never again."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/10/08/archive/plo-office-wrecked-by-bomb-jdl-member-picked-up-for-questioning|title=PLO Office Wrecked by Bomb; Jdl Member Picked Up for Questioning|date=October 8, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019012830/http://www.jta.org/1970/10/08/archive/plo-office-wrecked-by-bomb-jdl-member-picked-up-for-questioning|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 20, during a march to protest the treatment of Soviet Jewry, JDL members attempted to take over the Soviet Mission headquarters. The members were arrested after inciting demonstrators to break through police lines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/12/21/archive/march-of-10000-to-protest-leningrad-trial-plight-of-soviet-jewry-ends-in-near-riot|title=March of 10,000 to Protest Leningrad Trial, Plight of Soviet Jewry, Ends in Near Riot|date=December 21, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019014756/http://www.jta.org/1970/12/21/archive/march-of-10000-to-protest-leningrad-trial-plight-of-soviet-jewry-ends-in-near-riot|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 27, the JDL launched a 100-hour vigil for Soviet Jewry. Demonstrators tried to break through police barricades to reach the Soviet Mission to the UN to protest the sentencing of Jews in [[Leningrad]]. Several arrests were made.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/12/29/archive/100-hour-vigil-begins-2500-stage-rally-rabbi-kahane-ii-others-arrested|title=100-hour Vigil Begins; 2500 Stage Rally; Rabbi Kahane, Ii Others Arrested|date=December 29, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019014752/http://www.jta.org/1970/12/29/archive/100-hour-vigil-begins-2500-stage-rally-rabbi-kahane-ii-others-arrested|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 29, an estimated 100 JDL members demonstrated in front of the offices of the [[New York Board of Rabbis]], challenging them to get arrested "for Jews, as well as for blacks." Later that day, several JDL members scuffled with police outside the office of Aeroflot-In tourist, the official Soviet tourist agency, while JDL leader [[Meir Kahane]] demanded the right to purchase two tickets to Israel for two Russian Jews who were sentenced to death. About 75 JDL members marched near the office, chanting slogans such as "Freedom Now" and "Let My People Go."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1970/12/31/archive/6000-10000-jews-non-jews-whites-blacks-hold-demonstration-in-foley-square|title=6000-10,000 Jews, Non-jews, Whites, Blacks, Hold Demonstration in Foley Square|date=December 31, 1970|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019014737/http://www.jta.org/1970/12/31/archive/6000-10000-jews-non-jews-whites-blacks-hold-demonstration-in-foley-square|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 30, several hundred JDL members participated in a rally for Soviet Jewry in [[Foley Square|Foley square]], chanting "Let My People Go," "Open Up the Iron Door" and "Never Again!"<ref name=":0" />

===1971===

On January 8, 1971, a bombing outside of the Soviet cultural center in [[Washington, D.C.]] was followed by a phone call including the JDL slogan "Never again." A JDL spokesperson denied the group's involvement in the bombing, but refused to condemn it.<ref name="backgrounder" />

On January 17, in response to JDL tactics against Soviet personnel being condemned by the Israeli Cabinet and American Jewish leaders, eight former Soviet Jews living in Israel sent cables to American Jewish leaders denouncing their condemnation of the JDL and denying that the JDL's acts endangered Soviet Jews. The cables said they were convinced that the JDL's "policy and activities are most effective." The group also attacked Israeli authorities for alleged softness in fighting the Soviet Union on the issue of Jewish rights. One of the signatories, [[Dov Schperling|Dov Sperling]], claimed that the recent cancellation of the Bolshoi Ballet's scheduled American tour was forced by the JDL and hailed it as the first public surrender by Soviet authorities to Jewish pressure. [[Herut]] leader [[Menachem Begin]] also declared support of acts of harassment against Soviet diplomatic establishments abroad.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1971/01/18/archive/goldmann-jdl-tactics-a-catastrophe-soviet-jews-differ-on-jdlers-indicted|title=Goldmann: Jdl Tactics a 'catastrophe'; Soviet Jews Differ on Jdl'ers Indicted|date=January 18, 1971|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816103743/http://www.jta.org/1971/01/18/archive/goldmann-jdl-tactics-a-catastrophe-soviet-jews-differ-on-jdlers-indicted|archive-date=August 16, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On January 19, twenty JDL members had conducted a half-hour sit-in at the offices of Columbia Artists Inc. in Manhattan, leaving only after they were assured a meeting would be set up with the company's president in the near future.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1971/01/21/archive/jdl-old-goals-new-tactics-non-violent-actions-against-cultural-exchange-programs|title=Jdl: Old Goals, New Tactics; Non-violent Actions Against Cultural Exchange Programs|date=January 21, 1971|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019012448/http://www.jta.org/1971/01/21/archive/jdl-old-goals-new-tactics-non-violent-actions-against-cultural-exchange-programs|archive-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On January 20, JDL national chairman Rabbi Meir Kahane announced that JDL will conduct "non-violent actions" against organizations engaged in cultural exchange programs with the [[Soviet Union]] and that there had been "unofficial contacts" between his group and "some Jewish establishment organizations" which were welcomed.<ref name=":1" />

=== 1972–1979 ===
In 1972, two JDL members were arrested and convicted of bomb possession and [[burglary]] in an attempt to blow up the [[Long Island]] residence of the [[Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations|Soviet Mission]] to the [[United Nations]].

In 1972, a smoke bomb was planted in the Manhattan office of music impresario [[Sol Hurok]], who organized Soviet performers' U.S. tours. Iris Kones, a Jewish secretary from Long Island, died of smoke inhalation, and Hurok and 12 others were injured and hospitalized.<ref name="forward">{{cite web |url=http://forward.com/articles/131489/when-violence-overcame-a-freedom-struggle/ |title='When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone' by Gal Beckerman Tells of Meir Kahane's Tumultuous Reign Over the Soviet Jewry Movement – |date=September 22, 2010 |publisher=Forward.com |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509051614/http://forward.com/articles/131489/when-violence-overcame-a-freedom-struggle/ |archive-date=May 9, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Jerome Zeller of the JDL was indicted for the bombing and Kahane later admitted his part in the attack.<ref name="kushner" /> JDL activities were condemned by Moscow [[refusenik]]s who felt that the group's actions were making it less likely that the Soviet Union would relax restrictions on Jewish emigration.

In 1973, threatening phone calls made to the home of [[Ralph Riskin]], one of the producers of ''[[Bridget Loves Bernie]]'', resulted in the arrest of Robert S. Manning,<ref>"Producer Gets Threat Call" Milwaukee Sentinel, January 19, 1973</ref> described as a member of the JDL.<ref>David Zurawik, The Jews of Prime Time, Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Life, 2003, p. 94</ref> Manning was later indicted on separate murder charges, and fought extradition to the United States from Israel, where he had moved.<ref>["Murder Suspect Overdoses, Delaying Extradition to U.S.", ''LA Times'', July 14, 1993]</ref>

In 1975, JDL leader Meir Kahane was accused of [[Conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]] to kidnap a Soviet diplomat, bomb the [[Embassy of Iraq in Washington, D.C.|Iraqi embassy in Washington]], and ship arms abroad from Israel. A hearing was held to revoke Kahane's [[probation]] for a 1971 [[incendiary device]]-making incident. He was found guilty of violating probation and served a one-year prison sentence.<ref name="backgrounder" /> On December 31, 1975, 15 members of the League seized the office of the [[Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations]] in protest for [[Pope Paul VI]]'s policy of support of Palestinian rights. The incident was over after one hour, as the activists left the location after being ordered to do so by the local police, and no arrests were made.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=165744&dt=2082&dl=1345|title=Report by Daniel Patrick Moynihan about the incident|access-date=November 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312074339/http://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=165744&dt=2082&dl=1345|archive-date=March 12, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 6, 1976, six prominent refuseniks – including [[Alexander Lerner]], [[Anatoly Shcharansky]], and [[Iosif Begun]] – condemned the JDL's anti-Soviet activities as terrorist acts, stating that their "actions constitute a danger for Soviet Jews ... as they might be used by the [Soviet] authorities as a pretext for [[Antisemitism in the Soviet Union|new repressions and for instigating anti-Semitic hostilities]]."<ref name="backgrounder" />

On March 16, 1978, [[Irv Rubin]], chairman of the JDL, said about the planned [[American Nazi Party]] march in [[Skokie, Illinois]]: "We are offering $500, that I have in my hand, to any member of the community ... who kills, maims or seriously injures a member of the American Nazi Party." Rubin was charged with [[solicitation]] of murder but was acquitted in 1981.<ref>"JDL's new leader was born in Montreal" [[Montreal Gazette]], August 20, 1985, D10.</ref>

===1980–1989===
During the 1980s, past-JDL member [[Victor Vancier]] (who later founded the Jewish Task Force), and two other former JDL members were arrested in connection with six incidents: 1984 [[firebombing]] of an automobile at a Soviet diplomatic residence, the 1985 and 1986 [[pipe bomb]]ings of rival JDL members' cars, the 1986 firebombing at a hall where the [[State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation|Soviet State Symphony Orchestra]] was performing, and two 1986 detonations of [[tear gas]] grenades to protest performances by Soviet dance troupes.<ref name="backgrounder" /> In a 1984 interview, the JDL leader [[Meir Kahane]] admitted that the JDL "bombed the Russian mission in New York, the Russian cultural mission here [Washington] in 1971, the Soviet trade offices."<ref name="kushner" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/159817982.html?dids=159817982&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS&date=Sep+11%2C+1984&author=By+Carla+Hall&pub=The+Washington+Post++(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=C1&desc=The+Message+of+Meir+Kahane|title=The Message of Meir Kahane: In Silver Spring, Boos and Applause for the Knesset Member Knesset Member Meir Kahane|last=Hall|first=Carla|date=September 11, 1984|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019085124/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/159817982.html?dids=159817982&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS&date=Sep+11,+1984&author=By+Carla+Hall&pub=The+Washington+Post++(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=C1&desc=The+Message+of+Meir+Kahane|archive-date=October 19, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The attacks, which caused minor diplomatic crisis in relations between the U.S. and the USSR, prompted the [[New York City Police Department]] (NYPD) to infiltrate the group and one undercover officer discovered a chain of weapon caches across [[Brooklyn]], containing "enough shotguns and rifles to arm a small militia."<ref name="forward" />

On October 26, 1981, after two firebombs damaged the Egyptian tourist office at [[Rockefeller Center]], JDL Chairman Meir Kahane said at a press conference: "I'm not going to say that the JDL bombed that office. There are laws against that in this country. But I'm not going to say I mourn for it either." The next day, after an anonymous caller claimed responsibility on behalf of the JDL, the group's spokesman later denied his group's involvement, but said, "we support the act."<ref name="backgrounder" /> JDL members had often been suspected of involvement in attacks against neo-Nazis, [[Holocaust deniers]] and antisemites.

On October 11, 1985, [[Alex Odeh]], regional director of the [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]] (ADC), was killed in a [[mail bomb]]ing at his office in [[Santa Ana, California]]. Shortly before his killing, Odeh had appeared on the television show ''[[Nightline (U.S. news program)|Nightline]]'', where he engaged in a tense dialogue with a representative from the JDL.<ref name=jur>Juergensmeyer, Mark. ''Terror in the mind of God''. 2003, page 56</ref> Irv Rubin immediately made several controversial public statements in reaction to the incident: "I have no tears for Mr. Odeh. He got exactly what he deserved. ... My tears were used up crying for [[Leon Klinghoffer]]."<ref name=bohn/> The [[Anti-Defamation League]] and the [[American Jewish Committee]] both condemned the murder. Four weeks after Odeh's death, FBI spokesperson Lane Bonner stated the FBI attributed the bombing and two others to the JDL. In February 1986, the FBI classified the bombing that killed Alex Odeh as a terrorist act. Rubin denied JDL involvement: "What the FBI is doing is simple. ... Some character calls up a news agency or whatever and uses the phrase ''Never Again'' ... and on that assumption they can go and slander a whole group. That's tragic." In 1987, [[Floyd Clarke]], then assistant director of the FBI, wrote in an internal memo that key suspects had fled to Israel and were living in the [[West Bank]] urban settlement of [[Kiryat Arba]]. In 1988, the FBI arrested [[Rochelle Manning]] as a suspect in the bombing, and also charged her husband, Robert Steven Manning, whom they considered a prime suspect in the attack; both were members of the JDL. Rochelle's jury deadlocked, and after the [[mistrial]], she left for Israel to join her husband. Robert Manning was extradited from Israel to the U.S. in 1993.<ref name=bohn/> He was subsequently found guilty of involvement in the killing of the secretary of computer firm ProWest, Patricia Wilkerson, in another, unrelated mail bomb blast.<ref name=jweek>{{cite news |url=http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/1186/jdl-member-gets-life-term-in-bombing/ |title=JDL member gets life term in bombing &#124; j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California |newspaper=J |publisher=Jweekly.com |date=June 16, 1995 |access-date=November 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926145750/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/1186/jdl-member-gets-life-term-in-bombing/ |archive-date=September 26, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-15-me-46008-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Ex-JDL Activist Found Guilty in Bombing Death|first=Eric|last=Malnic|date=October 15, 1993|access-date=May 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020014649/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-15/local/me-46008_1_bombing-death|archive-date=October 20, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, he and other JDL members were also suspected in a string of other violent attacks through 1985, including the bombing of [[Boston]] ADC office that seriously injured two police officers, the bomb killing of suspected Nazi war criminal [[Tscherim Soobzokov]] in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], and a bombing in [[Long Island]], which was targeted at suspected Nazi war criminal Elmars Sprogis and maimed a bystander.<ref name=kushner/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Police Suspect Link In Blasts At Homes Of Men Tied to War Crimes |url=https://apnews.com/article/a7272be9f9b890093fad6d02187e6d35 |access-date=February 27, 2023 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=February 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227184741/https://apnews.com/article/a7272be9f9b890093fad6d02187e6d35 |url-status=live }}</ref> William Ross, another JDL member, was also found guilty for his participation in the bombing that killed Wilkerson.<ref name=jweek /> Rochelle Manning was re-indicted for her alleged involvement, and was detained in Israel, pending extradition, when she died of a heart attack in 1994.<ref name=jweek />

===1990–1999===

When [[Ruthless Records]] recording artist and former [[N.W.A]] member [[Dr. Dre]] sought to work instead with [[Death Row Records]], Ruthless Records executives, Mike Klein and [[Jerry Heller]] were fearful of possible physical intimidation from Death Row Entertainment executives including chief executive officer [[Suge Knight]] and requested security assistance from the JDL.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jdl.org/misc/fbi.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106171108/http://www.jdl.org/misc/fbi.shtml|url-status=dead|title=None|archivedate=January 6, 2009}}</ref> The FBI launched a [[money laundering]] investigation, on the presumption that the JDL was extorting money from Ruthless Records and several rap artists, including [[Tupac Shakur]] and [[Eazy-E]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vault.fbi.gov/Tupac%20Shakur%20/Tupac%20Shakur%20Part%201%20of%201/view|title=Unsealed FBI Report on Tupac Shakur|publisher=Vault.fbi.gov|access-date=October 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215062600/http://vault.fbi.gov/Tupac%20Shakur%20/Tupac%20Shakur%20Part%201%20of%201/view|archive-date=February 15, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Heller has speculated that the FBI did not investigate these threats because of the song "[[Fuck tha Police]]". Heller said, "It was no secret that in the aftermath of the Suge Knight shake down incident where Eazy was forced to sign over Dr. Dre, [[Michel'le]] and [[The D.O.C.]], that Ruthless was protected by Israeli trained/connected security forces."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pulauayer.com/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109075600/http://odeo.com/audio/1987369/view|url-status=usurped|title=Breakdown FM: Still Ruthless-Interview w/ Jerry Heller pt1|archivedate=January 9, 2007|website=W77}}</ref> The FBI documents refer to the JDL death threats and extortion scheme but do not make a direct connection between the group and the 1996 [[murder of Tupac Shakur]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Service |first=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/fbi-files-on-tupac-shakur-murder-show-he-received-death-threats-from-jewish-gang-1.355962 |title=FBI files on Tupac Shakur murder show he received death threats from Jewish gang – Israel News&#124;Haaretz Daily Newspaper |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=April 14, 2011 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215152722/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/fbi-files-on-tupac-shakur-murder-show-he-received-death-threats-from-jewish-gang-1.355962 |archive-date=February 15, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1995, when the [[Toronto]] residence of the [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]] [[Ernst Zündel]] was the target of an arson attack, a group calling itself the "Jewish Armed Resistance Movement" claimed responsibility; according to the ''[[Toronto Sun]]'', the group had ties to the JDL and to [[Kahane Chai]].<ref name=shermer>Shermer, Michael. ''Why People Believe Weird Things''. 1997, page 185</ref> The leader of the Toronto wing of the Jewish Defense League, [[Meir Halevi]], denied involvement in the attack, although, just five days later, Halevi was caught trying to break into Zündel's property, where he was apprehended by police.<ref name=shermer /><ref>[[Linda Deutsch]], "U.S. Jewish militants charged in bomb plot: Los Angeles mosque, congressman's office were intended targets", ''Ottawa Citizen'', December 13, 2001</ref> Later the same month Zündel was the recipient of a parcel bomb that was detonated by the Toronto police bomb squad.<ref>Henry Stancu, "Police detonate bomb sent to Zündel's home 'Just another day in life of Ernst Zundel,' he says", ''Toronto Star'', May 21, 1995</ref> In 2011, the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] had launched an investigation against at least nine members of the JDL in regards to an anonymous tip that the JDL was plotting to bomb the Palestine House in [[Mississauga]].<ref>{{cite web|author=blazingcatfur|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZeOOGGOTXQ|title=Michael Coren's Arena: Meir Weinstein – JDL Had Nothing To Do With Alleged Bomb Plot!| date=October 5, 2011 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=November 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730083705/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZeOOGGOTXQ|archive-date=July 30, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2000–present===

On December 12, 2001, JDL leader Irv Rubin and JDL member [[Earl Krugel]] were charged with planning a series of bomb attacks against the [[Muslim Public Affairs Council]] in Los Angeles, the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, California, and the [[San Clemente]] office of [[Arab-American]] Congressman [[Darrell Issa]], in the wake of the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/12/12/jdl.arrests|work=CNN|title=Two JDL leaders charged in bomb plot|date=December 13, 2001|access-date=May 2, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613034901/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/12/12/jdl.arrests/|archive-date=June 13, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-23-me-jdl23-story.html |title=Defense Names Rubin Case Informant – Los Angeles Times |publisher=Articles.latimes.com |date=January 23, 2002 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921141758/http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jan/23/local/me-jdl23 |archive-date=September 21, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Rubin, who also was charged with unlawful possession of an automatic firearm,<ref>{{cite web |agency=Reuters |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/jewish-militants-plead-innocent-to-los-angeles-plot-1.55027 |title=Jewish militants plead innocent to Los Angeles plot – Israel News&#124;Haaretz Daily Newspaper |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=January 22, 2002 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608082115/http://www.haaretz.com/news/jewish-militants-plead-innocent-to-los-angeles-plot-1.55027 |archive-date=June 8, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> claimed that he was innocent. On November 4, 2002, at the federal [[Metropolitan Detention Center]] in [[Los Angeles]], Rubin slit his throat with a safety razor and jumped out of a third story window.<ref name=lauro /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/West/11/14/obit.irv.rubin.ap/ |title=JDL chairman Rubin dies |date=November 14, 2002 |work=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017152203/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/West/11/14/obit.irv.rubin.ap/ |archive-date=October 17, 2008 }}</ref> Rubin's suicide would be contested by his widow and the JDL, particularly after his co-defendant pleaded guilty to the charges and implicated Rubin in the plot.<ref name=lauro /> On February 4, 2003, Krugel pleaded guilty to conspiracy and weapons charges stemming from the plot, and was expected to serve up to 20 years in prison.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/2.209/jdl-man-sentenced-to-20-years-in-plot-against-mosque-congressman-1.170431 |title=JDL man sentenced to 20 years in plot against mosque, congressman – Israel News&#124; Haaretz Daily Newspaper |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=September 22, 2005 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829022005/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/2.209/jdl-man-sentenced-to-20-years-in-plot-against-mosque-congressman-1.170431 |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> The core of the evidence against Krugel and Rubin was in a number of conversations taped by an informant, Danny Gillis, who was hired by the men to plant the bombs but who turned to the FBI instead.<ref name=lauro /><ref>{{cite web|last=Levy|first=Mike|url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/community_briefs/article/jdl_trial_set_for_october_20020412/|title=JDL Trial Set for October|publisher=Jewish Journal|date=April 11, 2002|access-date=November 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807064745/http://www.jewishjournal.com/community_briefs/article/jdl_trial_set_for_october_20020412/|archive-date=August 7, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> According to one tape, Krugel thought the attacks would serve as "a wakeup call" to Arabs.<ref name=lauro /> Krugel was subsequently murdered in prison by a fellow inmate in 2005.<ref name=deaths>{{cite news |last=Berman |first=Lazar |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/jdl-vice-chairmans-suicide-continues-chain-of-violent-deaths/ |title=JDL vice chairman's suicide continues chain of violent deaths |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=August 17, 2012 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011030033/http://www.timesofisrael.com/jdl-vice-chairmans-suicide-continues-chain-of-violent-deaths/ |archive-date=October 11, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Ligue de défense juive 01.jpg|thumb|LDJ graffiti in the [[Marais district|Marais]] neighbourhood in [[Paris]]. Picture taken on July 14, 2006, a little after the start of the [[2006 Lebanon War|2006 Lebanon war]].]]
In 2002, in France, attackers from [[Betar]] and Ligue de Défense Juive (LDJ) violently assaulted Jewish demonstrators from [[Peace Now]], journalists, police officers (one of whom was stabbed), and Arab bystanders.<ref>{{cite web |last=Vidal |first=Dominique |url=https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/france-also-has-its-jewish-thugs-1.47022 |title=France also has its Jewish thugs – Israel News &#124; Haaretz Daily Newspaper |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=April 24, 2002 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512220937/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/france-also-has-its-jewish-thugs-1.47022 |archive-date=May 12, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> At least two of the suspects in the 2010 murder of a French Muslim Saïd Bourarach appeared to have ties to the French chapter of the JDL.<ref name="ynet">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3889706,00.html|title=French Jews killed Muslim out of racist motives|newspaper=[[Ynet]]news|date=May 15, 2010|access-date=May 15, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518071028/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3889706,00.html|archive-date=May 18, 2010|url-status=live|last1=Halpern|first1=Gilad}}</ref> In 2011, Israeli daily ''[[Haaretz]]'' reported members of the "French branch of Jewish terror group coming to Israel 'to defend [[Israeli settlement|settlements]]'."<ref name=terror>{{cite web |last=Levinson |first=Chaim |url=https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/french-branch-of-jewish-terror-group-coming-to-israel-to-defend-settlements-1.384723 |title=French branch of Jewish terror group coming to Israel 'to defend settlements' – Israel News &#124; Haaretz Daily Newspaper |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=September 16, 2011 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924221644/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/french-branch-of-jewish-terror-group-coming-to-israel-to-defend-settlements-1.384723 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2013, a French Arab man was critically injured in a "revenge attack" by LDJ, sparking calls for further attacks against the Jews and a condemnation of the militant group by the French Jewish umbrella group [[Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France|CRIF]];<ref name="Ahren">{{cite news |last=Ahren |first=Raphael |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-arab-recovering-after-revenge-attack-by-jews/ |title=French Arab recovering after 'revenge attack' by Jews |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=June 5, 2013 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811041151/http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-arab-recovering-after-revenge-attack-by-jews/ |archive-date=August 11, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> as of 2013, there have been least 115 violent incidents were attributed to LDJ "soldiers" since the group's registration in France in 2001, including many vigilante reprisals to antisemitic attacks. Earlier that year, two LDJ members were sentenced for an attack at a pro-Palestinian bookstore that injured two people and a LDJ propaganda video called for "five cops for every Jew, 10 Arabs for each rabbi."<ref>{{cite news |last=Liphshiz |first=Cnaan |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-jewish-defense-league-on-the-attack/ |title=French Jewish Defense League on the attack |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=June 28, 2013 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108234039/http://www.timesofisrael.com/french-jewish-defense-league-on-the-attack/ |archive-date=January 8, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On February 22, 2014, France's LDJ published a [[eulogy]] ahead of the 25th anniversary of [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre]], praising and referred Goldstein as a "saint" and a "hero".<ref>{{Cite web|title= French JDL praises 1994 Hebron massacre of Palestinians|url= https://www.timesofisrael.com/french-jdl-praises-hebron-massacre-of-palestinians/|website=Times of Israel|date=March 2, 2014}}</ref>

In June 2014, two LDJ supporters were sentenced to prison in France for targeting the car of Jonathan Moadab, the Jewish co-founder of the blog "Cercle des Volontaires (Circle of Volunteers)", with a home-made bomb in September 2012.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ball |first=Sam |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20140729-calls-mount-ban-france-violent-jewish-defence-league// |title=Calls mount to ban France's 'violent' Jewish Defence League |publisher=France 24 |date=July 29, 2014 |access-date=July 31, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730191036/http://www.france24.com/en/20140729-calls-mount-ban-france-violent-jewish-defence-league/ |archive-date=July 30, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In October 2015, around 100 people who had JDL flags, and Israeli flags and letting off flares attacked the Agence France Presse building in [[Paris]]. Around 12 of them, armed with batons, assaulted David Perrotin, a leading French journalist. All were linked to the Jewish Defense League (JDL).<ref>{{cite news |last=Allen |first=Peter |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11952323/French-journalist-assaulted-by-pro-Israel-vigilantes-in-Paris.html |title=French journalist assaulted by pro-Israel vigilantes in Paris |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=October 23, 2015 |access-date=November 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025163142/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11952323/French-journalist-assaulted-by-pro-Israel-vigilantes-in-Paris.html |archive-date=October 25, 2015 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

On January 21, 2017, multiple members of the Jewish Defense League held a party during [[Donald Trump|Donald Trump's]] [[Inauguration of Donald Trump protests|presidential inauguration]] in an office building in [[New York City]] in [[Times Square]] where bagels, wine were present and [[Kiddush]] during the time was recited.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krupkin |first=Taly |date=January 21, 2017 |title=Right-wing Jewish Defense League Celebrates Trump Inauguration in N.Y.C. Bash |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2017-01-21/ty-article/jewish-defense-league-celebrates-trump-inauguration/0000017f-e927-dea7-adff-f9ffb4cf0000 |access-date=December 5, 2024 |website=[[Haaretz]]}}</ref>

After the [[October 7 attacks]], [[Kahanism|Kahanist]] sentiments and the reemergence of the JDL in Canada and the United States with [[Gaza war protests|pro-Israel protests]] in the country shown people holding JDL logos and flags with people also posting on [[YouTube]], [[Facebook]], and [[Twitter]] (Now [[Twitter under Elon Musk|X]]) pro-[[Meir Kahane|Kahane]] and JDL content.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 20, 2024 |title=Israel-Hamas conflict animates the reincarnated Canadian Jewish Defense League |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/israel-hamas-conflict-animates-the-reincarnated-canadian-jewish-defense-league-october-7-2024/ |access-date=November 7, 2024 |website=[[Institute for Strategic Dialogue]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>

On October 30, 2023, the Jewish Defense League member, Robert Manning, was released on [[parole]] after being [[Life imprisonment|sentenced to life]] after assassinating [[Alex Odeh]] October 11, 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Román |first=Gabriel San |date=October 30, 2023 |title=Ex-Jewish Defense League bomber's parole a 'gut punch' for Palestinian Americans |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-10-30/jewish-defense-league-bomber-robert-manning-parole-patricia-wilkerson-murder |access-date=November 7, 2024 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US |issn=2165-1736 |oclc=3638237}}</ref>

On November 12, 2023, during the [[March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism]] members of the French JDL division, Ligue de Défense Juive, assaulted a person who was protesting against Marine Le Pen and attacked demonstrators from the Golem collective.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berteloot |first=Tristan |date=November 7, 2024 |title=Pourquoi la Ligue de défense juive a-t-elle marché aux côtés du Rassemblement national contre l'antisémitisme ? |url=https://www.liberation.fr/politique/pourquoi-la-ligue-de-defense-juive-a-t-elle-marche-dimanche-aux-cotes-du-rassemblement-national-contre-lantisemitisme-20231113_GWI5ZBV4FBEABH2JUI7NIKKQJ4/ |access-date=December 18, 2023 |website=[[Libération]] |language=fr |issn=0335-1793}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Garnier |first1=Christophe-Cécil |last2=Molard |first2=Mathieu |last3=Douley |first3=Eva |last4=Weisz |first4=Johan |date=November 13, 2023 |title=Tabassage, intimidations et soutien au RN, la Ligue de défense juive est de retour |url=https://www.streetpress.com/sujet/1699893281-tabassage-intimidations-soutien-lepen-rassemblement-national-ligue-defense-juive-manifestation-antisemitisme-ldj |access-date=November 7, 2024 |website=StreetPress |language=fr}}</ref>

In May 2024, Rabbi Reuven Kahane, a relative to [[Meir Kahane|Rabbi Meir Kahane]], were arrested after assaulting members of a pro-Palestinian protest in [[New York City]] after protesters and Kahane got into an argument which led to Kahane's car being damaged, Kahane then assaulted one of the protesters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tress |first=Luke |date=May 8, 2024 |title=3 people, including local rabbi and developer Reuven Kahane, arrested in altercation at pro-Palestinian protest |url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/611062/3-people-including-local-rabbi-and-developer-reuven-kahane-arrested-in-altercation-at-pro-palestinian-protest/ |access-date=November 7, 2024 |website=[[The Forward]] |language=en |issn=1051-340X}}</ref> Kahane also hit a 55-year-old safety [[marshal]] with his car, but denies association with the Jewish Defense League.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Offenhartz |first=Jake |date=May 9, 2024 |title=Cousin of extremist rabbi Kahane charged after ramming woman at NY anti-Israel protest |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/cousin-of-extremist-rabbi-kahane-charged-after-ramming-woman-at-anti-israel-protest/ |access-date=November 7, 2024 |website=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref>

On the campus of the [[University of Toronto]] in September 2024, Eli Schwarz and [[Meir Weinstein]] were seen near a pro-Palestinian protest.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nechin |first=Etan |date=September 12, 2024 |title=Jewish Far-right Extremists Linked to Outlawed Terror Group Show Up at pro-Palestinian Events in Toronto |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-09-12/ty-article/.premium/jewish-far-right-extremists-show-up-at-pro-palestinian-events-in-toronto/00000191-e69b-d383-a5d3-f69be55c0000 |access-date=November 7, 2024 |work=[[Haaretz]] |pages=1}}</ref>

==Israel==

Kahane immigrated to Israel from the United States in September 1971, where he initiated protests advocating the expulsion of [[Arabs]] from Israel and the [[Palestinian territories]]. In 1972, JDL leaflets were distributed around [[Hebron]], calling for the mayor to stand trial for the [[1929 Hebron massacre]].<ref name="MFA">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/state/law/pages/the%20kach%20movement%20-%20background%20-%2003-mar-94.aspx |title=The Kach Movement – Background |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=March 3, 1994 |access-date=June 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223164753/http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/state/law/pages/the%20kach%20movement%20-%20background%20-%2003-mar-94.aspx |archive-date=February 23, 2016 |url-status=live  }}</ref>
[[File:Flag of Kach and Kahane Chai.svg|thumb|Flag of [[Kach and Kahane Chai|Kach]] and later Kahane Chai.]]
Kahane nominally lead the JDL until April 1974. In 1971, he founded a new political party in Israel, which ran in the [[1973 Israeli legislative election|1973 elections]] under the name "The League List".<ref>[http://www.polsci.ucsb.edu/faculty/hstoll/research/Israeli_Election_Results.xls Complete Israeli Election Results, 1949–2009] UC Santa Barbara {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The party won 12,811 votes (0.82%), just 2,857 (0.18%) short of the [[Election threshold|electoral threshold]] at the time (1%) for winning a seat. Following the elections, the party's name was changed to [[Kach and Kahane Chai|Kach]], taken from the [[Irgun]] motto "''Rak Kach''" ("Only thus").<ref>{{cite book |author=Rafael Medoff |author2=Chaim I. Waxman |year=2013 |title=Historical Dictionary of Zionism |publisher=Routledge |page=100 |isbn=978-1579582869}}</ref> Kach failed to gain any Knesset seats in the 1977 and 1980 elections as well. In the 1984 elections, the party won 25,907 votes (1.2%), passing the electoral threshold for the first time, and winning one seat, which was duly taken by Kahane.

Kahane's popularity grew, with polls showing that Kach would have likely received three to four seats in the coming November 1988 elections,<ref>{{cite web |author=Donald Neff |url=http://www.wrmea.org/1999-july-august/jewish-defense-league-unleashes-campaign-of-violence-in-america.html |title=Jewish Defense League Unleashes Campaign of Violence in America |work=Washington Report on Middle East Affairs |date=July–August 1999 |pages=81–82 |access-date=June 23, 2015 |archive-date=November 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103213815/https://www.wrmea.org/1999-july-august/jewish-defense-league-unleashes-campaign-of-violence-in-america.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iHOrDQghpcC&q=kach+1988+knesset+elections+poll&pg=PA196 |title=Jew vs. Jew: the struggle for the soul of American Jewry |author=Samuel G. Freedman |publisher= Simon and Schuster |year=2000 |page=196 |isbn=9780684859446 |access-date=June 23, 2015}}</ref> and some forecasting as many as twelve seats,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/32251 |title=12 Years Since the Assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane |publisher=Arutz Sheva |date=October 23, 2002 |access-date=June 23, 2015 |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301131445/https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/32251 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=[[Bradley Burston]] |date=December 12, 2002 |title=Slain Rabbi Meir Kahane Runs From the Grave |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-95237786.html |access-date=June 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924165509/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-95237786.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=dead  }}{{subscription required}}</ref> possibly making Kach the third largest party. However, after the Knesset passed an amendment to the Elections Law,<ref name="MFA"/> Kach was disqualified from running in the [[1988 Israeli legislative election|1988 elections]] by the Central Elections Committee, on the grounds of incitement to racism and negation of the democratic character of the State.

On November 5, 1990, Kahane was assassinated<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/19/nyregion/terror-label-no-hindrance-to-anti-arab-jewish-group.html | work=The New York Times | first=Dean E. | last=Murphy | title=Terror Label No Hindrance To Anti-Arab Jewish Group | date=December 19, 2000 | page=B6 | access-date=June 23, 2015 | archive-date=December 2, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202211555/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/19/nyregion/terror-label-no-hindrance-to-anti-arab-jewish-group.html | url-status=live }}</ref> after making a speech in [[New York City|New York]]. The prime suspect, [[El Sayyid Nosair]], an Egyptian-born American citizen, was subsequently acquitted of murder, but convicted on gun possession charges.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/23/nyregion/jury-selection-seen-as-crucial-to-verdict.html | work=The New York Times | first=Selwyn | last=Raab | title=Jury Selection Seen As Crucial to Verdict | date=December 23, 1991 | access-date=June 23, 2015 | archive-date=October 29, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029170024/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/23/nyregion/jury-selection-seen-as-crucial-to-verdict.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The Kach party subsequently split in two, with [[Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane]] (Meir Kahane's son) leading a breakaway faction, [[Kahane Chai]]. Both parties were banned from participating in the [[1992 Israeli legislative election|1992 elections]] on the basis that they were followers of the original Kach. Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane and his wife Talya were shot and killed by Palestinian terrorists on December 31, 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|url =http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Victims/Pages/Binyamin%20Zeev%20Kahane.aspx|title =Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102032/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Victims/Pages/Binyamin%20Zeev%20Kahane.aspx|archive-date =March 4, 2016|url-status =live}}</ref>

On February 25, 1994, [[Baruch Goldstein]], an American-born Israeli member of Kach, who in his youth was a JDL activist, [[Cave of the Patriarchs massacre|opened fire]] on Muslims kneeling in prayer at the revered [[Cave of the Patriarchs]] mosque in the [[West Bank]] city of [[Hebron]], killing 29 worshippers and injuring 125 before he ran out of ammunition and was himself killed. The attack set off riots and protests throughout the West Bank and 19 Palestinians were killed by the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] within 48 hours of the massacre. On its website, the JDL described the massacre as a "preventative measure against yet another Arab attack on Jews" and noted that they "do not consider his assault to qualify under the label of terrorism". Furthermore, they noted that "we teach that violence is never a good solution but is unfortunately sometimes necessary as a last resort when innocent lives are threatened; we therefore view Dr. Goldstein as a martyr in Judaism's protracted struggle against Arab terrorism. And we are not ashamed to say that Goldstein was a charter member of the Jewish Defense League."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jdl.org/index.php/about-jdl/faqs/ |title=FAQs &#124; Jewish Defense League |publisher=Jdl.org |access-date=November 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103121134/http://www.jdl.org/index.php/about-jdl/faqs |archive-date=November 3, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jdl.org/index.php/about-jdl/faqs/ |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=JDL |access-date=November 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103121134/http://www.jdl.org/index.php/about-jdl/faqs |archive-date=November 3, 2011 }}</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/25/newsid_4167000/4167929.stm BBC NEWS]  "Goldstein had been a member of the Jewish Defense League."</ref> In a similar attack nearly twelve years earlier, on April 11, 1982, an American-born JDL member and immigrant to Israel, Alan Harry Goodman, opened fire with his military-issue rifle at the [[Dome of the Rock]] on the sacred [[Temple Mount]] in [[Jerusalem]], killing one Palestinian Arab and injuring four others. The 1982 shooting sparked an Arab riot in which another Palestinian was shot dead by the police. In 1983, Goodman was sentenced by an Israeli court to life in prison (which usually means 25 years in Israel); he was released after serving 15 1/2 years on the condition of returning to the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1997/10/27/israel-releases-baltimorean-who-killed-at-mosque-goodman-received-life-term-in-attack-at-jerusalem-shrine-returning-to-md-mother-after-15-12-years-in-prison/ |title=Israel releases Baltimorean who killed at mosque Goodman received life term in attack at Jerusalem shrine |date=October 27, 1997 |access-date=November 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020524/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-10-27/news/1997300005_1_temple-mount-goodman-jerusalem |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Terrorism and other illegal activities==

In a 2004 congressional testimony, [[John S. Pistole]], executive assistant director for counterterrorism and counterintelligence for the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) described the JDL as "a known violent extremist Jewish organization."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.fbi.gov/congress/congress04/pistole041404.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707233327/https://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress04/pistole041404.htm|url-status=dead|title=Federal Bureau of Investigation – Congressional Testimony|archivedate=July 7, 2010}}</ref> FBI statistics show that, from 1980 through 1985, there were 18 officially classified terrorist attacks in the U.S. committed by Jews; 15 of those by members of the JDL.<ref name=bohn/>

In its report, ''Terrorism 2000/2001'',<ref name="fbi" /> the FBI referred to the JDL as a "violent extremist Jewish organization" and stated that the FBI was responsible for thwarting at least one of its terrorist acts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror |title=Terrorism 2000/2001 |publisher=Fbi.gov |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007083445/https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Holmes |first=Oliver |date=March 24, 2021 |title='Racist and reprehensible': Jewish Power set to enter Israel's parliament |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/24/racist-and-reprehensible-jewish-power-set-to-enter-israels-parliament |access-date=March 9, 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The [[Terrorism Knowledge Base|National Consortium for the Study of Terror and Responses to Terrorism]] states that, during the JDL's first two decades of activity, it was an "active terrorist organization."<ref name="MIPT"/> The JDL was specifically referenced by the FBI's Executive Assistant Director Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence, [[John S. Pistole]], in his formal report before the [[9/11 Commission]].<ref name="MIPT"/>

JDL is suspected of being behind the 1972 bombing of the Manhattan offices of theater impresario [[Sol Hurok]] in which 1 employee<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ledbetter |first=Les |date=January 27, 1972 |title=Fire Bomb Kills Woman, Hurts 13 in Hurok Office |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/27/archives/fire-bomb-kills-woman-hurts-13-in-hurok-office-firebombing-in-hurok.html |access-date=March 9, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> was killed.<ref>Kushner, Harvey W. (2003). Encyclopedia of Terrorism. SAGE. pp. 192–193. {{ISBN|0-7619-2408-6}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 1, 1974 |title=2 in J.D.L. Sentenced In Hurok Bomb Case |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/01/archives/2-in-jdl-sentenced-in-hurok-bomb-case.html |access-date=March 9, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Violent deaths==
A number of senior JDL personnel and associates have died violently. Meir Kahane, the JDL's founding chairman, was assassinated in 1990 as was his son, [[Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane]], in 2000. Long-time JDL chairman [[Irv Rubin]] died in 2002 in a Los Angeles federal detention center "after allegedly cutting his throat with a jail-issued razor and then jumping or falling over a railing and plummeting to his death." Rubin's deputy, [[Earl Krugel]], was murdered by a fellow prison inmate and white supremacist in 2005.<ref name="NYT-Krugel-death">{{cite news |date=November 6, 2005 |title=U.S. Jewish militant killed in prison |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/world/americas/06iht-jdl.html?_r=0 |access-date=October 27, 2013 |newspaper=New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Carol J. |date=July 24, 2009 |title=L.A. federal judge closes civil trial for activist's murder |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jul-24-me-judge-secrecy24-story.html |access-date=February 5, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=February 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205032123/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jul-24-me-judge-secrecy24-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="JJ-Krugel-death">{{cite news |last=Crogan |first=Jim |date=July 23, 2006 |title=Feds Indict Suspect in Prison Murder of JDL's Krugel |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/nation/article/feds_indict_suspect_in_prison_murder_of_jdls_krugel_20060724/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917174045/http://www.jewishjournal.com/nation/article/feds_indict_suspect_in_prison_murder_of_jdls_krugel_20060724/ |archive-date=September 17, 2016 |accessdate=January 15, 2011 |work=Jewish Journal}}</ref><ref name="LF-Krugel-death">{{Cite web |date=March 14, 2008 |title=US Attorney – Federal Inmate Sentenced On Brutal Murder Of Fellow Inmate |url=https://www.lawfuel.com/us-attorney-federal-inmate-sentenced-on-brutal-murder-of-fellow-inmate/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113033658/http://www.lawfuel.com/us-attorney-federal-inmate-sentenced-on-brutal-murder-of-fellow-inmate |archivedate=January 13, 2016 |website=Law Fuel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rothman |first=Tibby |date=August 5, 2009 |title=Why was Jewish Radical Earl Krugel Slain in Prison? |url=https://www.laweekly.com/why-was-jewish-radical-earl-krugel-slain-in-prison/ |website=LA Weekly |access-date=February 5, 2024 |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213094129/https://www.laweekly.com/why-was-jewish-radical-earl-krugel-slain-in-prison/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=November 6, 2005 |title=Jewish extremist killed in jail |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4411408.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=February 5, 2024 |archive-date=May 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527025815/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4411408.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Rubin's son and JDL vice-chairman Ari Rubin committed suicide in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tugend |first=Tom |date=August 17, 2012 |title=JDL vice chairman's suicide continues chain of violent deaths |url=https://www.jta.org/2012/08/17/news-opinion/united-states/jdl-vice-chairmans-suicide-continues-chain-of-violent-deaths |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604123802/http://www.jta.org/2012/08/17/news-opinion/united-states/jdl-vice-chairmans-suicide-continues-chain-of-violent-deaths |archive-date=June 4, 2017 |access-date=May 21, 2017 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}</ref>

==Organization==

===Chapters===
{{Main|Jewish Defense League chapters}}

===Chairs===
According to the organization's official list of Chairmen or Highest Ranking Directors:<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.jdl.org/index.php/about-jdl/leadership/list-chairmen/|title=Official List of JDL Chairmen|publisher=jdl.org|access-date=November 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219223739/http://www.jdl.org/index.php/about-jdl/leadership/list-chairmen/|archive-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref>
* 1968–1971 – Rabbi [[Meir Kahane]], International Chairman. Assassinated in 1990 by Islamic militant [[El Sayyid Nosair]], who was later convicted in Terrorism Conspiracy.<ref name="nytimes120113">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/nyregion/el-sayyid-a-nosair-killer-of-rabbi-kahane-is-denied-new-trial.html?_r=0|title=Man Convicted in Terrorism Conspiracy Is Denied New Trial|last=Benjamin Weiser|date=January 13, 2012|newspaper=nytimes.com|access-date=February 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426180713/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/nyregion/el-sayyid-a-nosair-killer-of-rabbi-kahane-is-denied-new-trial.html?_r=0|archive-date=April 26, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1971–1973 – David Fisch, a religious [[Columbia University]] student, who later wrote articles for Jewish magazines and the book ''Jews for Nothing''.
* 1974–1976 – Russel Kelner, originally from [[Philadelphia]]. Formerly a U.S. Army lieutenant trained in counter-guerrilla warfare, he moved to [[New York City]] to direct the JDL's [[paramilitary]] summer camp JeDeL located in [[Wawarsing, New York]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19710111&id=bBQfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4497,2287126 |title=Jewish Defense League an Ultra-Militant Group |date=January 11, 1971 |work=Tuscaloosa News |access-date=April 29, 2013 |archive-date=June 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606033541/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19710111&id=bBQfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4497%2C2287126 |url-status=live }}</ref> and later to run the national office as chairman.
* 1976–1978 – Bonnie Pechter.
* 1979–1981 – Brett Becker, originally from [[South Florida]], came to New York City to become chairman.
* 1981–1983 – Meir Jolovitz, originally from [[Arizona]], also came to New York City.
* 1983–1984 – Fern Sidman, Administrative Director.
* 1985–2002 – [[Irv Rubin]], International Chairman. Arrested on terrorism charges; died in jail awaiting trial.
* 2002–present – [[Shelley Rubin]], Administrative Director (2002–2006); Chairman/CEO (2006–present).
* 2017–present – [[Meir Weinstein]], North American co-ordinator (2017–present); Canadian Chairman (1979–present)

===Schism===
After Rubin's death in prison in November 2002, Bill Maniaci was appointed interim chairman by Shelley Rubin. Two years later, the Jewish Defense League became mired in a state of upheaval over legal control of the organization. In October 2004, Maniaci rejected Shelley Rubin's call for him to resign; as a result, Maniaci was stripped of his title and membership. At that point, the JDL split into two separate factions, each vying for legal control of the associated "intellectual property." The two operated as separate organizations with the same name while a lengthy legal battle ensued.<ref>[http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000798.html The Jewish Defense League has split into feuding factions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051204100616/http://www.cultnews.com/archives/000798.html |date=December 4, 2005 }} from CultNews.com (written by [[Rick Ross (consultant)|Rick Ross]])</ref> In April 2005, the original domain name of the organization, ''jdl.org'', was suspended by [[Network Solutions]] due to allegations of infringement; the organization went back online soon thereafter at domain name ''jewishdefenseleague.org''. In April 2006, news of a settlement was announced in which signatories agreed to not object to "Shelley Rubin's titles of permanent chairman and CEO of JDL."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishdefenseleague.org/information/settlement.shtml|title=jewishdefenseleague.org|access-date=April 26, 2006|archive-date=October 12, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061012124509/http://www.jdl.org/information/settlement.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> The agreement also confirmed that "the name 'Jewish Defense League,' the acronym 'JDL,' and the 'Fist and Star' logo are the exclusive intellectual property of JDL." (Opponents of both groups claim that these are [[Kahanism|Kahanist]] symbols and not the exclusive property of JDL. At this time, however, the logo is no longer in general use by the Kahanist groups.) The agreement also states: "Domain names registered on behalf of JDL, including but not limited to jdl.org and jewishdefenseleague.org, are owned and operated by JDL." Meanwhile, the opposing group formed '''B'nai Elim''',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnaielim.org/ |title=Bnai Elim official website |publisher=Bnaielim.org |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824172221/http://www.bnaielim.org/ |archive-date=August 24, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which is the latest of many JDL splinter groups to have formed over the years (previous splinter groups included the '''Jewish Direct Action''' and the '''United Jewish Underground''' that have been active during the 1980s).

===Principles===
The JDL upholds five fundamental principles
* "LOVE OF JEWRY, one Jewish people, indivisible and united, from which flows the love for and the feeling of pain of all Jews."
* "DIGNITY AND PRIDE, pride in and knowledge of Jewish tradition, faith, culture, land, history, strength, pain and peoplehood."
* "IRON, the need to both move to help Jews everywhere and to change the Jewish image through sacrifice and all necessary means—even strength, force and violence."
* "DISCIPLINE AND UNITY, the knowledge that he (or she) can and will do whatever must be done, and the unity and strength of willpower to bring this into reality."
* "FAITH IN THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, faith in the greatness and indestructibility of the Jewish people, our religion and our Land of Israel."

The JDL encourages, per its principle of the "Love of Jewry," that "... in the end ... the Jew can look to no one but another Jew for help and that the true solution to the Jewish problem is the [[Negation of the Diaspora|liquidation of the Exile and the return of all Jews to Eretz Yisroel]] – the land of Israel."<ref name="five">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jdl.org/information/five_principles.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117030204/http://www.jdl.org/information/five_principles.shtml|url-status=dead|title=None|archivedate=January 17, 2009}}</ref> The JDL elaborates on this fundamental principle by insisting upon an "immediate need to place [[Judaism]] over any other 'ism' and ideology and ... use of the yardstick: 'Is it good for Jews?'"<ref name="five" /> The JDL argues that, outside of Jews, there are historically no people corresponding to the [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] ethnicity. Writing on its official website, the JDL claims: "[T]he first mention of a 'Palestinian people' dates from the aftermath of the 1967 war, when the local Arabic-speaking communities ... were retrospectively endowed with a contrived 'nationhood' ... taken from Jewish history ..." and that "[c]learly, since Roman times 'Palestinian' had meant Jews until the Arab's recent adoption of this identity in order to claim it as their land."<ref name="iorp">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jdl.org/israel/israel_or_palestine.shtml|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703210048/http://www.jdl.org/israel/israel_or_palestine.shtml|url-status=dead|title=None|archivedate=July 3, 2008}}</ref> On this basis, the JDL argues that "[[Zionism]] [should be] under no obligation to accommodate a separate 'Palestinian' claim, there being no historical evidence or witness for any such Arab category," and it considers Palestinian claims to be "Arab usurpation" of proper Jewish title.<ref name="iorp"/>

==Relations with other groups==
In 1971, Kahane aligned the JDL with the [[Italian-American Civil Rights League]], created the previous year by the [[Italian American]] mob boss [[Joseph Colombo]], head of the [[Colombo crime family]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Kaplan|first=Morris|title=Kahane and Colombo Join Forces to Fight Reported U.S. Harassment|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/05/14/91283122.pdf|access-date=November 9, 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=May 14, 1971}}</ref> In 2011, the Canadian JDL organized a "support rally" for the [[English Defence League]] (EDL) featuring a live speech, via [[Skype]], by EDL leader [[Tommy Robinson]]. The event was denounced and condemned by the [[Canadian Jewish Congress]] (CJC) leader [[Bernie Farber]] and general counsel Benjamin Shinewald.<ref>[https://nationalpost.com/Anti+Islamic+group+from+hold+rally/4066857/story.html#ixzz1BsfoDl5x "Anti-Islamic group from U.K. to hold rally"], ''National Post'', January 6, 2011 {{dead link|date=August 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name=edl>[https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/Islamophobic+group+draws+fierce+protests/4096408/story.html "'Islamophobic' group draws fierce protests"], ''National Post'', January 12, 2011 {{dead link|date=August 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name=farbsun>[http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/2011/01/12/16865286.html "Troubling marriage for T.O. Jews"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115234727/http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/2011/01/12/16865286.html |date=January 15, 2011 }}, ''Toronto Sun'', January 12, 2011</ref> The rally, held at the Toronto Zionist Centre, attracted a counter-protest organized by [[Anti-Racist Action]] (ARA) resulting in four ARA members being arrested.<ref name=edl/><ref>{{cite web |last=Service |first=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/world/jewish-british-anti-muslim-event-in-toronto-draws-protests-arrests-1.336595 |title=Jewish-British anti-Muslim event in Toronto draws protests, arrests – Israel News &#124; Haaretz Daily Newspaper |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=January 12, 2011 |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211051941/http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/jewish-british-anti-muslim-event-in-toronto-draws-protests-arrests-1.336595 |archive-date=December 11, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> The JDL Canada has also organized rallies in support of right-wing Israeli politician [[Moshe Feiglin]]<ref>[http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=162790 "Temple tempest: Extremist JDL resurfaces in Bathurst synagogue with Likud pol in tow"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022022613/http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=162790 |date=October 22, 2012 }}, ''Now Magazine'', April 24 – May 1, 2008</ref> and Dutch politician and well-known [[Criticism of Islam|Islam critic]] [[Geert Wilders]] of the [[Party for Freedom]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://jdlcanada.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/jdl-solidarity-rally-for-dutch-freedom-fighter-geert-wilders/ | title=*JDL* Solidarity Rally for Dutch Freedom Fighter *Geert Wilders* | work=JDL Canada Blog | date=January 6, 2010 | access-date=July 3, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707100814/http://jdlcanada.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/jdl-solidarity-rally-for-dutch-freedom-fighter-geert-wilders/ | archive-date=July 7, 2013 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}</ref> and announced its support for the increasingly anti-Islamic [[Freedom Party of Austria]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jdlcanada.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/parsha-and-weekly-update-january-9-15-2011/ |title=Parsha and Weekly Update – January 9–15, 2011 « Jewish Defence League Canada |publisher=Jdlcanada.wordpress.com |access-date=August 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512230854/http://jdlcanada.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/parsha-and-weekly-update-january-9-15-2011/ |archive-date=May 12, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rav [[Yehuda HaKohen (peace activist)|Yehuda HaKohen]], a leader in the Hebrew Universalist [[VISION movement]], is a former JDL member and has cited Kahanism as an inspiration behind his ideological beliefs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Podcast |first=The Next Stage |date=November 4, 2021 |title=Rethinking the Legacy of a Jewish Radical with Shaul Magid |url=https://visionmag.org/rethinking-legacy-jewish-radical-shaul-magid/ |access-date=December 14, 2024 |website=VISION |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 24, 2024 |title=The ideological coup: How disciples of Kahane became the new face of Israel |url=https://jordantimes.com/opinion/ramzy-baroud/ideological-coup-how-disciples-kahane-became-new-face-israel |access-date=December 14, 2024 |website=Jordan Times |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Golus nationalism]]
* [[Jewish Defense Organization]]
* [[Kach and Kahane Chai]]
* [[Kahanism]]
* [[Jewish terrorism]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.jdl.org }} {{Dead link|date=July 2022}}
*[http://www.jdl-canada.com/ Jewish Defence League Canada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413170929/http://jdl-canada.com/ |date=April 13, 2010 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150109162238/http://www.jdl-germany.org/ Jewish Defense League Germany]
*[http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?page=1&casualties_type=&casualties_max=&perpetrator=1236&count=100&charttype=line&chart=overtime&ob=GTDID&od=desc&expanded=yes#results-table List of 80 terrorist incidents between 1970 and 1986  attributed to the Jewish Defense League on the Global Terrorism Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327100552/http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?page=1&casualties_type=&casualties_max=&perpetrator=1236&count=100&charttype=line&chart=overtime&ob=GTDID&od=desc&expanded=yes#results-table |date=March 27, 2012 }}
*{{American Jewish Historical Society - Finding Aid|365640|Jewish Defense League Records}}

{{Jewish Defense League}}
{{Refusenik movement and 1990s post-Soviet aliyah}}
{{Authority control}}

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